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The growing reality for social networks is that they will perpetually be exploited in new and terrorising ways and there may not be a sweeping solution for bad actors. The hope is that solutions outpace abusers. This race was on disturbing display over the weekend as a horrific video of a gunman opening fire on worshippers in two mosques in New Zealand went viral, and the world’s leading video-sharing service scrambled to scrub the deluge of uploads. Read More >>

Facebook said on Saturday night that within 24 hours of a horrific attack on Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand that killed at least 50 people and wounded dozens of others on March 15, it had blocked 1.5 million attempts to share a video of the attack live-streamed on Facebook by the shooter. Over 1.2 million of those attempts were blocked at upload. Read More >>

Every horrifying moment amplified by social media follows the same basic script, and Friday’s livestreamed deadly terrorist attack in New Zealand, which left at least 49 people dead and dozens injured, hits all the usual plot points of hate going viral online. Read More >>

At least 49 people are dead and dozens more have been seriously wounded during multiple terror attacks today in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacker used both guns and bombs in an effort to target Muslims in the country. One series of attacks was livestreamed on Facebook for 17 minutes. Three men and one woman have been arrested, according to the New Zealand Herald. Read More >>

A YouTuber arrested on Sunday by Mountain View, California police for suspicion of threatening Google drove all the way from Waterville, Maine – a cross-country 3,000 mile trip – to confront staff for allegedly terminating his account on Google subsidiary YouTube – unaware that it was actually his spouse who deleted it, BuzzFeed News reported on Tuesday. Read More >>

Meghan Trainor, 45, has been an exhibiting artist and performer for more than 15 years. She’s worked in 3D printing, brain-computer interface, robotics and medieval technology. Drone metal outfit Earth is her favourite band and, this week, she was locked out of her social media accounts for 'impersonating' Meghan Trainor – that is, herself. Read More >>

YouTube has a genuine crisis on its hands after it was revealed that comments on its site were being used to organise a child exploitation network. Major advertisers are dropping like flies. In response, YouTube on Thursday announced that it is disabling comments on almost all videos that feature minors. Read More >>

YouTube has removed ads from videos that promoted anti-vaccination rhetoric and violated its ad policies, BuzzFeed News reported Friday. The site reported that at least seven advertisers were unaware that their brands were being attached to this kind of content and despite the fact that YouTube’s ad policies aren’t new. Read More >>

As YouTube scrambles to tackle a network of child exploitation in the comments section of its platform, some creators have voiced concern about what will happen if their videos are demonetised amid advertiser pull-outs and crackdowns on content. The Verge reported Friday that a tweet from the Team YouTube account sent creators further spiralling after the company announced a measure it was taking against “inappropriate comments.” Read More >>

Companies are pulling their advertising campaigns from YouTube amid reports that a network of paedophiles is openly operating in the comments sections of videos of young children, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Disney and Nestlé are among those who have reportedly yanked spending after a YouTube video surfaced the ongoing problem. Read More >>

Making bullshit copyright claims to get content removed from YouTube remains a tried-and-true way to screw with creators, which is why the company’s plan to overhaul its “three-strikes” policy sounds like the much-needed improvement users have been asking for. But confusingly, YouTube’s new policy update has absolutely nothing to do with copyright. Read More >>

Last week, an alt-rock mystery puzzled the music press. Almost 25 years after its release, the Dinosaur Jr. song “Over Your Shoulder” appeared at number 18 on Japan’s Hot 100 chart, beating out major new releases like Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings.” Read More >>